Floods are getting worse, are we prepared for it?

Andreas Klippeno responsesJanuary 28, 2019

In my previous blog post, I have discussed the danger of rising sea levels and how much of a threat it is, especially for people living in coastal regions. Now aside from the rise in sea levels, let me briefly discuss one of the major effects of climate change – worsened flooding.Floods gradually get worse as the global temperature and sea levels rise.

Flooding is said to be one of the most dangerous natural disasters worldwide alongside drought. An estimated 520 million people per year worldwide gets exposed to flood resulting to deaths and other serious damages.

In the US alone, flooding has been the cause of death for over a hundred people annually since 2015. And 2017 became a record year for high tide flooding across the nation. In fact, a new analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration projects the trend of high tide flooding to continue into the years to come.

So with major floods becoming more common as years pass by, are we prepared for what’s about to come?

Worst Floods of 2018

Precipitation, hurricanes, typhoons,and tropical cyclones are intensifying each year due to the harrowing effects of global warming. In 2018, more than five super typhoons were recorded collectively in Asia and the US causing hundreds of lives lost and billions of properties damaged and destructed.

Because of the unusual amounts of rainfall and trends in long-term sea level rise, the past year has been a witness to some of the worst flooding events in recent years. Let’s take a look at some of them:

The City of Canals has been hit by what could possibly be their worst flooding in more than 20 years. Strong winds and days of heavy rain has pushed the level of the city’s lagoon to more than five feet above average height inundating 95 percent of the historic city center at the end of October.

The city of Baguio and parts of Benguet bore the brunt of one of 2018’s strongest typhoons, Mangkhut, locally known as Ompong. Villages were submerged in raging floods, mud and swaths of land. A landslide in a mining area buried a hundred miners dead. As soon as Mangkhut left the Philippine Area of Responsibility, it went on to batter Southern China and Hong Kong.

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In November, heavy rains and flash floods took the lives of 12 people and caused the evacuation of more than 3,000 in an event that locals have described as “never before seen”. While 21 people in October died after being swept away by a flash flood in one of the country’s worst natural disasters in decades.

How does climate change worsen flooding?

Climate change plays a hefty role in aggravating flooding situations all over the world. According to the Climate Communication, the rise in sea levels due to climate change subjects coastlines to greater risks of flooding and erosion and increases the risks correlated with wind-driven storm surges responsible for hurricanes and typhoons.

Warmer oceans increase the amount of water that evaporates into the air, and warmer air can hold more moisture than cooler air. When this moisture-laden air moves over land, it can produce more intense precipitation – for example, heavier rain and snowstorms. The potential impacts of heavy precipitation include crop damage, soil erosion, and an increase in flood risk due to heavy rains.

Climate change plays a huge role in the occurrence of extreme weather conditions.

Put it simply, with heavy rainfall comes the risk of flooding. The wet season has been extremely wetter with the downpour of rain being unusually heavy in different parts of the globe.

Preparing for the worst to come

Experts at the United Nations University in Japan say that the greatest potential flood hazard is in Asia. They have also estimated that by 2050, the number of people worldwide left vulnerable to flooding could climb to as high as 2 billion if preventive efforts and measures to counter climate change would not push through.

The threat of detrimental flood is real and it is increasing. While there are still a lot of things that we must comprehend on how today’s weather patterns could fatally affect us, and while nothing could be a hundred percent guaranteed for the future, one thing is for sure, if we do not take these issues seriously now, we will never be prepared for what’s about to come.

My question to you: What is your opinion about gradual increase of flood?

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1) Your house is flooded?
2) Your warehouse or fabrication site is flooded?
3) Your Governemental building is flooded?
4) You Commercial building is flooded?
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The flood prevention products are manufactured and specified to extremely high standards, which means that they provide dependable and guaranteed flood protection.
Flood Control Asia RS Corp. works with architects and consultants all over the world and our clients include government agencies, utility companies, commercial businesses, retail chains, and nuclear power stations.
Do not take any risk especially regarding the climate change: Protect your assets against flooding.

Students from the Technological University of the Philippines dropped by Clark Freeport Zone Pampanga to visit Flood Control Asia’s facility as part of an educational program tour to learn more about new and innovative technologies that are used in flood management.